4 July 1931: James Joyce marries

The marriage of James Joyce and Nora Barnacle was the culmination of a passionate, unconventional, and enduring love story that began in Dublin in 1904. Nora, a chambermaid from Galway with a lively, earthy charm, first met the ambitious young writer in June of that year. Their chemistry was instant, and just a few months later, they left Ireland together for Europe, beginning a lifelong partnership that would weather poverty, illness, and exile.

Though they lived as a couple for decades and had two children—Giorgio and Lucia—they did not officially marry until 4 July 1931 in London. The decision to wed came partly due to legal concerns over inheritance and Giorgio’s upcoming marriage. The pair hoped to marry quietly in a London registry office, but were found out by the paparazzi. The civil ceremony was brief and quiet, but it formalised a relationship already rich with devotion and complexity. Ulysses had been published nine years earlier, and at this point, the novel and its author were internationally known.

Their relationship was not without tension. Joyce’s drinking, the strains of exile, and their daughter Lucia’s mental illness created considerable hardship. But through it all, Nora’s steadfast presence offered Joyce a kind of sanctuary. Her irreverence and straightforward manner delighted him, and she inspired some of his most memorable female characters, including Molly Bloom in Ulysses. In turn, he adored her, frequently writing her tender and sometimes startlingly frank love letters, full of longing and humour.

Though they came from different worlds, Nora and James shared an unshakable bond. Stephen Joyce (Nora and James’s last direct descendant who died in January 2020) said of Nora, “Nonna was so strong, she was a rock. I would venture to say that [Joyce] could have done none of it, not written one of the books, without her.”